As I mentioned in the first afternoon meeting, I think it was, maybe the morning meeting too, that there was going to be a workshop here this week, and that the description of the workshop mentioned that the point of Buddha's meditation is primarily the realization of selflessness. and ultimately the realization of, or the purification of compassion. And Buddhist meditation is traditionally presented in India and as it's spread actually to Tibet, Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and China, is presented as having two aspects. One of stabilization, tranquility of the psychophysical complex, the body and mind.

[01:08]

And the other aspect being insight or higher vision. And when higher vision is realized, selflessness is realized, because higher vision reveals selflessness, and the vision becomes congruent with the selflessness. And then, if the meditator is one who is intending to realize Buddhahood for the welfare of all beings, then that compassion, that compassionate aspiration is purified of things like belief in the apparent separation of self and other. So, for example, in the Diamond Sutra it says that those who are devoted to the welfare of others vow to take others across to the other shore.

[02:20]

of salvation from suffering. But in doing so, they must not give rise to the notion that there are actually other sentient beings to save. In order to save other sentient beings, we have to become free of the belief that there are other sentient beings. We have to become free of that belief. the bodhisattva needs to train in order to become free of that, in order to save beings. So the meditation course is to free us from this, from the apparent, from the appearance that other beings are out there on their own, separate from us. So, before we understand selflessness, we can still suffer and be aware of suffering and want to be free of suffering, and we can still see other beings that are suffering and want them to be free of suffering and work for this. But in order to really accomplish this, we must become free of the idea that there are other beings.

[03:24]

And actually becoming free of the idea that there are other beings is the main thing that we have to help other beings. So I've been talking mostly this week about stabilization, and there's many, many ways to present stabilization I just talked about a little bit. There's an unlimited number of ways to present the teaching of stabilization, and it's actually one of the kinds of practices that's most necessary to have a teacher for. As I was saying to someone today, the practice of giving, the practice of precepts, like precepts, you don't need a great teacher to practice the precepts most of the time. Just your spouse or children or parents can help you because you have your idea of what lying is and they have their idea and you work it out.

[04:27]

Most people know something about what killing and stealing are. So you have some idea too. So you try to practice not killing and not stealing with other people who have some understanding of that. And then they can give you feedback, especially if you ask them. So if you vow to practice the Bodhisattva precepts and you tell other people, they kind of have a sense of what those precepts mean. And if they don't, give them a list of the precepts and let them read them. And then if they have any questions, tell them to ask somebody besides you. what they mean so they can help you anyway most people know a little bit about what it means not to kill and not to steal and not to lie and not to poison yourself and not to slander and things like that right you must you have an idea about that but most people did not know much about meditative stabilization so that's where you actually need a teacher and Speaking of the precepts, I think there's four or five people in this workshop that are going to receive the precepts in about two weeks.

[05:31]

On Sunday the, is it the 16th or the 15th? 16th? So those of you who can be up in the Bay Area might want to come and and witness these people making these four or five people plus about ten others are going to receive the Bodhisattva precepts. It's going to be at Green Gulch about four o'clock on the 16th. So the rest of the description of the workshop is that In the Zen tradition, if you look at the classical Zen tradition, you don't find much literal reference to mental and physical stabilization. There's some, but not much reference to mental and physical stabilization, or even the insight practice which goes in parallel to it. And certainly a systematic approach is oftentimes hard to find.

[06:37]

Still in the modern world, people are still in other traditions. The traditions from China and Southeast Asia and Tibet and Mongolia. People are still practicing shamatha and vipassana or tranquility and insight. And part of the reason why I want to offer this workshop is so that Zen students will understand how those practices are actually not really The principle of stabilization and insight are not foreign to Zen practice. It's just that our approach to it is quite different from the somewhat Indian style, the somewhat systematic style of Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism and early Chinese Buddhism, pre-Zen Chinese Buddhism. So I've given you some feeling for stabilization, and some of you have been able to attain complete stabilization this week. I congratulate you. And I thought I'd give you some sense of insight, but now I would like to give you some Zen teachings where I see the teachings of stabilization and insight embedded in the story.

[07:56]

And one of the first examples I would give came to me. I wasn't thinking of bringing it up, but it came to me because someone used it as an example of where an important Zen story where there was a shamatha and vipassana. The person wanted to show me that. So like, for example, the person started out by saying, somewhat in relationship to what Luminous Owl brought up yesterday, and also someone asked about how does this relate to Shikantaza. But anyway, I think what Luminous Owl's question was, as I talked to him later, was are we losing track of how tranquility and insight bear on the fundamental issue of saving beings from suffering? Was that kind of the crux of your question? And then the question is, how does the practice of tranquility and insight bear on awakening here and now, okay? So Zen has some reputation of being concerned with awakening here and now.

[09:03]

And sometimes Samatha and Vipassana, the course of Samatha and Vipassana or Tranquility Insight is sometimes presented as taking three extremely long eons to accomplish. Not just regular medium-sized eons, but very long, super long eons to actually accomplish this practice. And whereas there's also this talk about enlightenment here and now. Now that's a big topic, this here and now versus three eons. But I would just suggest to you that probably it promotes enlightenment here and now if you're happy to spend three eons. But if you're in a hurry, if you'd like to make the course a little shorter than three long eons, that will block enlightenment here and now. But if you're kind of in the mood, three eons, no problem. Great, I love to practice.

[10:07]

That's enlightenment here and now. But here's another example of enlightenment here and now. So this person came to me and he said, like Luminous Owl said, this is all very interesting about this tranquility and insight, but, for example, the great Buddhist, the great Zen teacher, Hui Nung, the sixth ancestor, he didn't have any of this stuff. And I said, right. I think what the person meant was he didn't have this like systematic approach to stabilization and insight with all these different topics involved, all these different teachings. And then he also pointed out to me, don't we have in Zen this thing about a special transmission not relying on the scriptures? And I said, yeah, we do. And I guess maybe there's lots of scriptures which present tranquility and insight and tell you how to practice it. Like the Samdhi Nirmacana Sutra, which I'm referring to, and which I'm studying with a group of priests up in Green Gulch, which is one of the definitive Bodhisattva manuals on tranquility and insight.

[11:15]

And it's a very complicated process. An extremely exhaustive study of all the different topics for insight. But in Zen, don't we have a special transmission which doesn't rely on these scriptures? And I don't know if I said, yeah, or anything, but anyway, I said, we do have that expression. And then after I finished talking to him, I thought, oh, that does happen in Zen, doesn't it? That Zen students hear about a special transmission outside the scriptures and make that into a scripture. And then that's the scripture, the special transmission outside the scripture. And then I thought of the story of the sixth ancestor, who was an uneducated, at least he couldn't read Chinese, person. And he had to work for a living. And he collected firewood for a living to support himself and his mother.

[12:16]

And one day, and his name was Workman Lou. And so one day, Workman Lou was walking through the marketplace in Canton. and I guess selling firewood, and he walked by a fortune-telling booth, and in the fortune-telling booth, the fortune-teller was chanting the Diamond Sutra. And when the ancestor, well, I should say, when Workman Lu heard the fortune-teller chanting the Diamond Sutra, he had a significant enlightenment here and now, or then and there. But for him, it was here and now. Now, someone might say, oh, by the way, he had practiced three extremely long eons prior to that. We don't actually know his total biography in detail. But someone might say, he had been practicing tranquility and insight with innumerable Buddhas in the past, and now...

[13:22]

He was walking through the marketplace, and I would say, my understanding would be he was walking through the marketplace and he was in a state of mental and physical stabilization. He was serenely coursing through the marketplace with his pile of wood, step by step, not elaborating on his work of selling firewood. like I said this morning, and he's walking to the marketplace and saying, workmen lose firewood, can't be beat. Don't miss out. Workmen lose firewood. Here we come. But every word he said, every step he took, he didn't elaborate on. He was like stabilized. And in his stabilization, he was open to what is happening in the marketplace and what wood is and what his body is and what his breath is. So then, This is enlightenment here and now. So then he gets to this booth and then he hears the Diamond Sutra and the Diamond Sutra penetrates his body and mind or his body and mind penetrate the Diamond Sutra.

[14:31]

It's a mutual penetration. And he wakes up hearing section 10C of the Diamond Sutra. A bodhisattva should produce a thought or a mind which does not abide or dwell on anything. Here is the great Zen master who has realized a direct transmission, a special transmission without relying on the scriptures. He's not relying on the scriptures, but he wakes up hearing the scriptures. But when he hears the scriptures, he doesn't rely on the scriptures. When you have insight into the scripture, you do not rely on the scripture. You do not dwell on the scripture. Most people read scriptures and they either dwell in the scripture or outside the scripture. They either resist the scripture or lean into the scripture and try to get the scripture. So most people read scriptures and they're, you know, most Zen students read scriptures and just drool. You know, not because they're hungry, but because they're asleep.

[15:33]

They just read, you know, they just read and read and read and they don't even notice what they're reading. After they finish the scripture, what was it about? They aren't even there. But then when they finally get there, then they usually try to get the scripture. When you read scriptures and when you hear a lecture, most people are not listening to it, or if they do hear it, then they try to get the scripture. So either dwelling in getting the scripture or dwelling and holding back from hearing the scripture, that's where we usually are. But when you're in stabilization, you become vulnerable to the scripture. You become vulnerable to the concepts that are being presented, and they penetrate you. When you're stabilized, you're open, and you can enter into the into the practice of insight. In other words, the teaching can penetrate you. When the teaching penetrates you, you're not relying on the teaching. This is the special transmission. So he wakes up. But I think this is a story of tranquility and insight.

[16:38]

I think he was tranquil when he entered the marketplace and insight occurred there. Just the normal structure of Buddha's awakening can be seen in his story, I feel. And by the way, although he wasn't relying on the scripture in his awakening, he was not relying on the scripture, that's why he awoke. If you rely on the scripture, your reliance blocks your awakening. But if you stay away from the scriptures, that's also relying on the scriptures. It's a negative version of relying. The only way you can realize non-reliance on the scriptures is by reading scriptures and listening to scriptures and copying scriptures and memorizing scriptures. That's how you realize non-reliance. Anybody can not attach to a scripture if they don't even hear it or look at it. But after you memorize it and while you're memorizing it, can you do that without attaching to it? Yes, you can. Is that enlightenment here and now? I say yes, it is. Is that how the sixth ancestor listened to the heart, the Diamond Sutra?

[17:40]

I say yes. Don't you think so? Don't you think that's how he was listening to it? So then he says, without relying on it, he says, I want to learn more about the scriptures. And I would put in parentheses, so I can continue to practice non-reliance on it. So I can further test, see if I can continue to not rely on it if I hear even more. And so the fortune teller says, oh, You can go and learn more about this from the fifth ancestor of Zen. He lives up a little bit north. So it's a walk, but you can get there in a few months. So he starts trotting off to see the fifth ancestor. And many interesting things happen on the way, like he becomes a great teacher. to a large assembly of people. He's 24 years old. He becomes a big teacher to a large assembly of people and then realizes that he forgot where he was going and says goodbye to his disciples and continues to go meet his teacher. And he meets the fifth ancestor and they had this nice little chat, which you might have heard about, where the fifth ancestor says to him, where are you from?

[18:50]

And he says, I'm from the south. And I think the fifth ancestor says, oh, well, there's no Buddha nature in the south. Which is, you know, like on a superficial level, what he's saying, which is demographically or culturally or historically kind of like literal, is that the culture centers were in the north and Canton, that part was like, you know, the jungle. And so, you know, there were no great Buddhist monasteries in Canton, even though the future ancestor was living there and waking up. So he says, there's no Buddha nature in the south. And the future ancestor, Workman Lu says, Buddha nature has nothing to do with north or south. And the fifth ancestor recognizes, can see, because he's also in a state of stabilization. So he can see what he's got here. And so he wants to protect this person.

[19:50]

So he says, get this thug out of here. Send him to the rice pounding room. So already in the Tang Dynasty, they were like ruining brown rice. They had discovered how to make white rice, and they thought it was cool. So this shows that even in the height of the Tang Dynasty, they didn't understand macrobiotic reality yet. But anyway, so they sent him to the room to pound brown rice and make it into white rice. And he works there, I believe, for eight months. Can I shorten the story a little bit? So anyway, after a certain point, Huineng writes a poem expressing his understanding. And the ancestor comes out and reads it and immediately sees that Huineng has understanding, has great insight.

[20:50]

So he, again, he erases it and says, you know, don't pay attention to this, guys. He doesn't want people to know that this kid has this great tranquility and insight. So then he goes to visit Hui Nung in the rice-pounding area. So this is an example. First he's chopping wood, and that's enough for him to... That's a practice where he can practice stabilization. It is possible, as we're talking about, in work, to practice work with no conceptual elaboration and enter into tranquility by practicing work with complete... or you can use work to develop concentration. So he did it with cutting wood. Now he's doing it with pounding rice. For eight months, he's practicing stabilization, pounding rice. Also, he's not only practicing stabilization, but he's cooking his insight at the same time. And he's using his insight, actually, to deepen his stabilization. So the ancestor comes to see him and he says, you know, how's the rice going?

[21:57]

Is it done? And Workman Lou says, well, it's white, but it's not yet sifted. So then the ancestor takes his staff. He carries his staff around just in case there's going to be a famous story happening. He takes his staff, and he whacks the mortar three times. And Workman Lou takes the sifter and shakes it three times. This is more than insight. This is enlightened expression based on tranquility and insight between them two. They're communicating now. They're insight. The ancestor says, come to my room at midnight and I have a few things to say to you. So he goes to the room. He gives him more instruction on the Diamond Sutra and then gives him his robe and his bowl and said, okay, now go hide.

[23:01]

because if these other monks find out about you, they'll kill you. And I would say, it looks like they'll kill him physically, but I think more importantly, they'll kill him spiritually by making him their teacher before he's ready. So he runs and hides for 16 years. But anyway, I see over and over again tranquility and insight, tranquility and insight throughout this story. And... And also I see the way of using scriptures without relying on them is to use scriptures with tranquility and insight. Sutras, reading scriptures are not actually primarily for wisdom, they're actually for samadhi, for stabilization. By just running your eyes over the scripture, in a way without elaborating, without trying to discuss it with yourself, but just read each word with no conceptual elaboration, you enter into the mental stabilization of that scripture.

[24:12]

And then in that state of mental elaboration, not just the sutra, but if you look up from the sutra at the trees or at the wall, then you have an insight. This way of reading scriptures is what we mean by not relying on scriptures. And it's also what it means is that when you look up from the scripture and look at somebody's face or the wall, you don't rely on the wall. You don't use the scripture of the wall. You don't rely on it. You're not trying to get anything from it. And because you're not trying to get anything, the wall opens up and tells you what it is. Namely, it's what you really are. So you understand from the wall, from the trees, from the sky, from human faces, and from the scriptures. But the scriptures are used actually to enter into the samadhi of not using the scriptures. And if you try to get something from the scriptures, you will not enter samadhi. You will not enter mental stabilization because you're elaborating on the text by your greed.

[25:20]

And if you don't like scriptures, you're elaborating on the text by your anger. You're adding to the scripture. I'm getting out of here. Or you're adding on to the scripture. I'm going to get something in the scripture. And there's, again, many stories where I see the Samantabhipassana. I'm not going to... I'm going to start off by just telling you these stories. I mean, tell you the name of these stories and you can look them up later. So... Case 39 of the Book of Serenity, Wash Your Bowl, Zhao Zhou's Wash Your Bowl. It's a shamatha story, opening into insight. It's a tranquility story. Matsus, Drink Your Tea and Go, and Zhao Zhou's Have Some Tea. These are shamatha vipassana stories. But one statement I want to read almost in full, and this is something that was written by,

[26:27]

a monk named Great Peace, or Great Tranquility. And he's a Dharma brother of Guishan, and he and Guishan are disciples of Baijong. Baijong, one of the most important Zen teachers, and so is Guishan. Da'an is not so important, but anyway, he's Guishan's brother and disciple of the great Baijong. When Guishan died, Da'an became the next abbot of Guishan. So Guishan is a person named Guishan, but he's named after Guishan. He's named Mount Gui. So Mount Gui, there's a monastery which is founded by Mr. Mount Gui. And his successor was also called Mount Gui, Da'an. So this is founded by Mount Gui Da'an. Ling Yu, and the successor was Mount Gui Da'an, a great piece. So Mount Gui Da'an says, I went at Mount Gui for 30 years and have been eating Mount Gui's rice and shitting Mount Gui's shit.

[27:40]

I have not studied Guishan Zen, but I just see a single water buffalo. When it wanders off the road and begins grazing, I bring it back. When it trespasses onto other people's rice fields, I discipline it. In this way, I've been taming it for a long time. Do you understand? What is the water buffalo? It's your mind. We don't study Zen around here. We don't rely on scriptures. We don't even rely on Zen, do we? All we do is take care of a water buffalo.

[28:44]

And we all have our own little water buffalo. Now, practicing Samatha, taming this water buffalo, Some of us are working on this. We need help. But anyway, it's possible to tame this water buffalo. So he's been taming this water buffalo for 30 years. In this way, I've been taming it for a long time. Such an adorable one. It understands human speech. Like, don't elaborate, darling. Don't start grazing in greener pastures. Just eat what we feed you and say thank you very much and don't complain.

[29:49]

It's okay to ask if the food has pesticides on it. Okay, so it understands human speech, and now it has been transformed into a white ox. What's that? Huh? What? Now it's stabilized when it's tamed. It's been tamed, and now after it's tamed, it's transformed into a white ox. What's that? It's insight. What's a white ox? Huh? What? It's Buddha. It's the Buddha way. This mind, which used to be kind of like, you know, a water buffalo that swiped other people's food and wandered off the path, this mind has been tamed, and now that it's been tamed, it has been transformed into the Buddha way, into the supreme vehicle of the salvation of all beings.

[30:55]

This mind has been transformed into that. This is insight. Right there in a nice little Zen story. All day long, it's wandering around in front of us. Ultimate realities wandering around in front of us all day long. Even if we try to drive it away, it will not leave. So for me, the traditional structure of Zen meditation is in that little Zen poem, actually, isn't it? One time I was having a discussion with a Vipassana teacher and this guy I went to college with named Wes Nisker, who is the originator of the hahayana. You know about the hahayana?

[31:59]

Anyway, he started this new vehicle called the hajana, the vehicle of laughter. And the teachers use mostly knock-knock jokes. So the main one is, of course, knock-knock. That's it, see? That's the question, and you laugh, right? So anyway, Wes Nisker was the moderator for this discussion, and after the discussion was over, And he's a Vipassana teacher himself. After the discussion was over, he used to be a Vipassana teacher before he started the Haryana. After the discussion was over, he said, oh, I see. The Vipassana, the Samatha Vipassana is prose and Zen is poetry. So in Zen, we use, you know, animals and stuff like that. We have monkeys. Gorillas, dogs, foxes, buffalo, even iron bulls.

[33:02]

We have dragons, we have snakes, both poisonous and non-poisonous. We have all these animals, because in Zen we bring in the animal, the unconscious, into our story. It's a different style. The Indians are more philosophical and systematic. But the principle of Buddhist teaching, of Buddhist enlightenment, of Buddhist meditation, I think it's in Zen practice too. And so that's what I wanted you to understand a little bit about so that we understand that our Vipassana practitioner friends are really... closely practicing with us in a slightly different style or fashion. But really the principle is unavoidable. And so we do need to work with these principles of taming the ox and then once it's tamed,

[34:11]

be there and notice it's being transformed into white ox, which is always under our nose anyway. It's not really that it wasn't there before. And so, uh, anyway, those are a few Zen stories about this. And you asked, what's it got to do with Shikantaza? Um, I think, uh, I think just sitting is a pretty clear example of no mental elaboration, no conceptual elaboration. So just sitting is just sitting. The body is just the body. The breath is just the breath. Whatever thoughts are there are just the thoughts. And you're just you. And you being you, and just being you, and that you being you, and nothing but you, the condition of being you, is enlightenment, as Shikantasa.

[35:16]

And the practice of sitting up there is a celebration, or a ritual enactment, of you being you. But you're actually you being you all the time, and your body's being itself all the time, and the fact of your body being your body is Buddha's bodhi. is Buddha's enlightenment. So, Shikantaza is stabilization in the sense of no mental elaboration, and Shikantaza is insight in the sense of when there's no mental elaboration, when you are you, you are not you. When you are you, that's precisely the condition that we mean by bodhi. That's what is meant by Buddha. So stabilization is Buddha. So insight actually is always there. The white ox is always there. So Shikantaza is completely compatible with Samatha Vipassana.

[36:17]

But again, you rarely hear Zen teachers in Asia equating Samatha Vipassana with Shikantaza. But some of them do it. I've seen it a few times, but I bet none of you have. Right? Nobody ever saw that, did they? No? I think I saw Snow Hot Harada make that comparison. I think he did it. Okay? So now do you understand? And then if you want to start practicing shamatha, you've got to figure out how to do that. You can do it in work situations, but you probably should get a teacher to help you because you can also get into trying to get something out of this, which is a big mental elaboration. You are not going to get anything out of this practice.

[37:19]

But that's not a problem unless you're trying to. And this is enlightenment right here and now, but if you're trying to get enlightenment here and now, that's a big problem. So you do need some supervision to make sure you don't get into like trying to get something out of this for yourself. Which I'm not saying you want to now, but as you get closer to getting something, you might change your story. I didn't want anything until I found out what I could get. But now, geez, this is good stuff. And I just thought I might read the verse which celebrates the story of Wash Your Bowl. So a monk comes to see Zhao Zhou. And Zhao Zhou says, or a monk asked Zhao Zhou, I have just entered this monastery. Please give me guidance. Now, this is one of those things that you guys can use here. Because people come in and ask, right?

[38:23]

I've just entered this monastery. Please tell me, give me some guidance. And Zhaozhou says, have you had breakfast yet? And the monk said, yes, I've eaten. And Zhaozhou says, then go wash your bowl. Now this is certainly shamatha practice. Do you understand? Do you? But listen to the verse. Breakfast over. The direction is, wash your bowl. So, I told the people this morning what I think breakfast over means. What does breakfast over mean? What? No. What? What? You experience breakfast. You have an experience. You have an experience. That's breakfast. You ate breakfast. Have you guys had breakfast? Okay, now wash your bowl. That's shamatha. Wash your bowl means

[39:24]

Don't elaborate breakfast. Get over it. It's over. You be that way with your breakfast. You be stabilized. You be that way with your experience moment by moment. That's stabilization. What? That's right. Okay, so breakfast is over. The direction is wash your bowl. Open up. The mind ground meets itself. What's that? It's insight, isn't it? The Samatha opens you up. Now the mind ground meets itself. The water buffalo is transformed into a white ox. Do you understand? Open up. The mind ground meets itself. And now, a guest of the monastery, having studied to the full, But was there enlightenment there or not? Case 39, Book of Tranquility.

[40:33]

So now it's time for, is the rice done? Well, if it's not, you know, eight more months, maybe it will be. What would Queen Anne have said if there had been brown rice? Hm? What would Queen Anne have said after the rice was done if there hadn't been brown rice? What would he have said if you hadn't been assigned to pound the rice? He wouldn't have been in the rice room. These Zen people are very straightforward, you know. Making brown rice, you ask, is the rice white yet? Making brown rice, you say, have you chewed it well? And then he says, I've chewed it well, but it's not yet completely digested.

[41:53]

What do you think? He won't say come on. How's it going? What? Chewing? Good. I was wondering if you could tell us how your heart was. How it was? It used to be in pain. And then I went to the hospital. So they did a little operation on me. And then they gave me some medication.

[43:22]

And then I went back to see the doctor after six months and he said, bottom line is you're doing great. But you still have heart disease and you might drop dead any minute. So don't waste time. Go tell everybody you love them. Because you know you might not have another chance. So I love you. And I really appreciate you not just listening to me, but listening and hearing. I can tell you heard me. I really appreciate that. I know you don't completely understand the Dharma yet, but I appreciate you continuing to study. It's great. And I hope you are intending to never stop, no matter how many eons it takes. And even though it takes endless eons to become a Buddha, being willing to practice that way is enlightenment right now.

[44:27]

Do you understand? It's on tape. Unless what sometimes happens is the tape recorder doesn't work. But if the tape recorder doesn't work, I'll say it again because I can remember it. I can remember it because it's very important. It's very important that we're happy to practice for many eons. We're not in a hurry. We're happy to do this urgent work of studying dharma so we can effectively love each other and purify our love of all dualistic appearances. even while they're appearing, not to fall for them. Yes?

[45:37]

For those of us who are going to start practicing Samatha, yeah? The image? A way to start? A way to start practicing stabilization? Choose a leaf? Okay. Well, I'll just say this. You should discuss the... It's difficult for people to understand using the nature, the different qualities of mind.

[46:41]

It's hard for people sometimes to use them. But I just want to write maybe on the blackboard something about this. I'll be right back. Let's say the object is breath. This is an object. This is an image. This is an inner image of the breath. This is not the breath as an external phenomena, as a physical phenomena. This is the breath as an inner image, inner concept, inner idea. You can focus on the breath, and then the proper way of focusing on the breath is the breath is the breath. To focus on the breath with no elaboration, to focus on the breath, to contemplate or focus on the breath in the breath, which means to attend to and focus on the breath, be mindful of the breath and focus on the breath, remember the breath in the breath,

[47:50]

It means without applying your attention to any mental train associated with the breath. So coming off of the breath are infinite mental trains. All mental trains are breath-sponsored. There's no limit to mental trains or trains of thought coming off the breath. Right? Do you understand that? that whenever you're following your breath, you can go off any direction from there on some mental train or some train of thought. So the way you follow the breath, in the breath, is to not go off on any of these trains. These trains, the beginning of the train, you know, the little conductor for all these little trains, it keeps, every, the breath, there's a breath, and somebody says, let's go on this train, come on, we have a train going here, train going here, train going here. You don't get on any of those trains. Okay, that's the way you develop stability with the breath, and that's also the way you will study the breath after having stability. That same way of being with the breath to realize stability, then you open up, and that will be the same way that you'll study for insight.

[48:55]

Okay, so that's the breath, that's a good object, and that's the way to work with it. But what I'm also suggesting is another inner image you can use is the image, for example, wash the bowl or don't apply the attention to trains of thought associated with anything or the breath. No mental elaboration, don't get involved. These are all different ways of saying how you would meditate on the breath, but you can also use that method, that instruction, as the thing you're focusing on. And that image is an image of the non-conceptual nature of consciousness, which you will realize once you realize stabilization. You actually see for yourself and understand directly that mind has this non-conceptual way of dealing with its cognitions. Or cognition is non-conceptual in the sense that it doesn't elaborate on the concepts it cognizes.

[50:02]

So those are the two types of objects which I'm proposing for you and which I'm particularly interested in helping with. But if you want to choose something else, I'll consider that. For example, Mark had brought up, you can also meditate on death and you can realize stabilization meditating on the image or concept, the inner image of death. You're not actually meditating on death. You're meditating on image of death, concept of death, an idea of death. But the idea of death can be used to realize stabilization. You can also use the image of the Buddha. That can also be an inner image to realize stabilization. But the image of Buddha... You know, I myself have never been able to get it on with the image of the Buddha. I tried a few times, but I never really was able to. I did.

[51:10]

I tried. A Tibetan teacher came to Green Gulch and he wanted to use the Buddha so, you know, we're all looking at the Buddha and closing our eyes and trying to see the Buddha and, you know, and then open your eyes and see the Buddha with your eyes open. Like, you know, standing out there like, whatever, six feet tall, 16 feet tall, just standing there like, as I'm standing out there, I couldn't do it. There's a few little glimmers, you know, but But there is that kind of meditation. But if you want to do it, I'll support you. But I'm not too good at it myself. OK? Are you OK? If you're not, you need more help. But you're not going to get it right now, I think. But that's what I would suggest to you, is your breath. Yes? Pierre? Are you from a foreign country? Hello? What is the one practice which we should do all the time?

[52:12]

What is the one practice we should do all the time? Anybody care to answer that question? Mindfulness. Mindfulness, yeah. That's good. You should always be mindful. Buddhas are always mindful. By the way, Buddhas are not always practicing stabilization, but they're always mindful. Buddhists don't need to practice stabilization. But they do practice mindfulness. Zazen? Yes, always practice zazen. At least informally. Selflessness. Practice selflessness all the time. So those are different names for the one practice. Do you understand? Pardon? You're not certain. Well, that's not exactly a practice, but it's fine to be not certain. But is that enough names for the one practice? Or do you want some more? What? I was asking him if he wants more names for the one practice that you should do all the time.

[53:23]

Could I say how to do it? Be yourself. Be exactly what you are. No more, no less. You should always do that. But that's not something you can do, is it? It's just what you are. So that's called the teaching of lustness, the teaching of be just like you are. Has this been realized? Just before you said that, it was. Did you feel it? Yeah. You should have seen it. It was great. But it's gone now. I'm the only one who saw it, him and me. That was enlightenment here and now. And yet he still has some more work to do, fortunately. You get to watch him grow. And now it's 4.30 and we usually stop at that time.

[54:32]

So unless you have some reason and I should continue, I will stop. May I?

[54:36]

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